took a swim the other day. It wasn’t planned. Some people would classify it as a fall, something they keep track of when you’re an old coot. I call it an unexpected immersion.
The Johnson’s Pool people were here to “open” our pool. I usually do it myself, but my wife decided I’m too old to pull the cover off without falling in or creating a mess with the junk on top of the cover. I hate it when she’s right!
So anyhow, the Johnson pool crew had the cover off, all the plugs removed and were prepping the filter and pump mechanism, a short distance behind the pool. I was backing around the edge, blasting the maple tree helicopters away from the edge of the pool with a hose. It was a chilly afternoon; I dressed for the weather in jeans, a winter sweater and a jacket.
It was the least I could do, this little housekeeping chore. As I backed around one of the corners, which are rounded off, I miscalculated and backed right over the edge into the pool.
I used to take a dip with my son when we took off the cover in April or early May. It was a tradition – two brave souls in 50-degree water. I was a lot younger in those days; my son Zachary moved out on his own and the tradition came to an end. Until now! Our pool is the smallest that Johnson’s Pools ever installed, at least at the time -10 feet by 20 feet, 5 and 1/2 feet deep in the deep end.
I wasn’t in any danger as I took my unplanned dip in the 49-degree water that had just been treated with three gallons of chlorine. With supervision and yelps from my wife, I paddled to the shallow end and climbed out, a drowned rat coughing from chlorine fumes.
My cell phone decided to stay in the pool, sinking to the bottom in the deep end. Now, I have a new one. And know for sure, that the rice-in-a-bag treatment for a wet phone doesn’t work for one that took a long swim.
I hope I haven’t started a new pool opening tradition. I can’t afford to buy a new cell phone every year.
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